Vancouver and District Waterfront Workers' Association
Encyclopedia
The Vancouver and District Waterfront Association was the union for longshoremen working on Vancouver's waterfront between 1923 and 1935.
It was established as a company union
by the Shipping Federation of British Columbia after it defeated a strike and broke the local of the International Longshoremen's Association
that previously represented the longshoremen.
Agitators from the Communist Party of Canada
were elected to the union executive in 1933, linking it to the Workers' Unity League
and thus transformed it into a militant union. The VDWWA was itself broken in 1935 after another waterfront strike in Vancouver.
It was established as a company union
Company union
A company union is a trade union which is located within and run by a company or by the national government, and is not affiliated with an independent trade union. Company unions were outlawed in the United States by the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, due to their use as agents for interference...
by the Shipping Federation of British Columbia after it defeated a strike and broke the local of the International Longshoremen's Association
International Longshoremen's Association
The International Longshoremen's Association is a labor union representing longshore workers along the East Coast of the United States and Canada, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, and inland waterways...
that previously represented the longshoremen.
Agitators from the Communist Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...
were elected to the union executive in 1933, linking it to the Workers' Unity League
Workers' Unity League
The Workers' Unity League was created in 1929 as a labour central operated by the Communist Party of Canada on the instructions of the Communist International....
and thus transformed it into a militant union. The VDWWA was itself broken in 1935 after another waterfront strike in Vancouver.
See also
- Battle of Ballantyne PierBattle of Ballantyne PierBallantyne Pier was the site of a docker's strike in Vancouver, BC, in June 1935. It was a federally owned dock built by the National Harbours Board In 1923, and named for the head of the Harbours Board. There were ongoing strikes on the West Coast of North America in the Depression and it led to...
- International Longshore and Warehouse UnionInternational Longshore and Warehouse UnionThe International Longshore and Warehouse Union is a labor union which primarily represents dock workers on the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii and Alaska, and in British Columbia, Canada. It also represents hotel workers in Hawaii, cannery workers in Alaska, warehouse workers throughout...
- William Wasbrough FosterWilliam Wasbrough FosterMajor-General William Wasbrough Foster DSO CMG VD was a noted mountaineer, Conservative Party politician, business man, and chief constable in British Columbia, Canada in addition to his distinguished military career....
- Gerry McGeerGerry McGeerGerald Grattan McGeer was a lawyer, populist politician, and monetary reform advocate in the Canadian province of British Columbia...